PC Insanity Cripples Our Military

A proposed new handbook for soldiers serving in the Middle East reveals an alarming level of political correctness that infests the military chain of command. The 75-page document suggests that American ignorance of Taliban culture is chiefly responsible for the spate of so-called green-on-blue attacks by Afghan trainees on their American trainers, that have claimed the lives of 63 coalition troops this year alone. The manual is still in the drafting stages, but an article published by the Wall Street Journal reeks of the typically leftist “blame America first” mentality that should enrage every American.

The leaked manual, characterized by the WSJ as the “final coordinating draft,” offers a list of “taboo conversation topics” soldiers should avoid. These including “making derogatory comments about the Taliban,” “advocating women’s rights,” “any criticism of pedophilia,” “directing any criticism towards Afghans,” “mentioning homosexuality and homosexual conduct” or “anything related to Islam.” In short, a combination of self-censorship and subservience to Islamist culture – self-imposed dhimmitude if you will – is seen as the key to countering the murderous behavior of Afghan trainees.

The handbook continues: “Bottom line: Troops may experience social-cultural shock and/or discomfort when interacting with [Afghan security forces,]” it states. “Better situational awareness/understanding of Afghan culture will help better prepare [troops] to more effectively partner and to avoid cultural conflict that can lead toward green-on-blue violence.”

You know what really facilitates green-on-blue violence? Armed Afghan trainees in the presence of their unarmed American counterparts. Unbelievably, until the policy was quietly rescinded last August, American soldiers were required to remove their magazines from their weapons, while quartered inside bases with their armed Afghan trainees. That insidious policy was promoted as a “gesture of trust” directed towards our Afghan “partners.” It took 21 deaths in 2011, followed by an additional 40 deaths in 2012, for military brass to reach the painfully obvious conclusion that it wasn’t working.

In September, the training of Afghan troops was temporarily suspended. It was then Americans got their first hint regarding the mindset that has apparently reached fruition with this handbook. Islamic “sensitivity training” was stepped up. A list of orders troops were expected to obey – or face severe punishment – included the following: wear surgical gloves whenever handling a copy of the Koran; never walk in front of a praying Muslim; never show the bottom of boots while sitting or lying across from a Muslim, considered an insult in Islam; never share photos of wives or daughters; never smoke or eat in front of Muslims during the monthlong Ramadan fasting; avoid winking, cursing or nose-blowing in the presence of Muslims, all viewed as insults; avoid exiting the shower without a towel; avoid offering and accepting things with the left hand, which in Islam is reserved for bodily hygiene, and considered unclean.

A senior US Army intelligence official illuminated the insanity. "The Afghans that know we’re doing all this PC cultural sensitivity crap are laughing their asses off at our stupidity,“ he contended.

Unfortunately, as this new handbook indicates, such thinking is in the minority among military leaders. Yet one leader, U.S. Marine Gen. John Allen, the top military commander in Afghanistan, is apparently dismayed by this latest effrontery to American men and women in harm’s way. "Gen. Allen did not author, nor does he intend to provide, a foreword,” said Col. Tom Collins, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan. “He does not approve of its contents.”

Those contents are a testament to the poisonous multiculturalism that has apparently moved seamlessly from mainstream American culture into what ought to be the last bastion of resistance against it. Thus, the draft handbook includes a summary stating that some U.S. soldiers consider Afghan forces to be “basically stupid” thieves, “gutless in combat,” “profoundly dishonest” and engaged in “treasonous collusion and alliances with enemy forces.” Apparently any negative reaction by American soldiers to 63 insider deaths or the rigors of a decade-plus of combat are completely unjustified.

Nothing about this handbook should surprise anyone. It is little more than another facet of the Obama administration’s ongoing effort to diminish the reality of Islamist extremism, lest it interfere with their “outreach” initiatives. Those initiatives include a document purge at the FBI, removing 700 pages of documentation from approximately 300 presentations given to agents since 9/11, a Justice Department program to protect Islamic civil rights, Homeland Security meetings conducted between Janet Napolitano and extremist Muslim organizations, including the Muslim Brotherhood, and establishing Muslim outreach as the primary goal of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

The version reviewed by the Journal is still subject to revisions, Lt. Gen. David Perkins, commander of the Army’s Combined Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., told the newspaper. Given the leanings of this administration, one is left to wonder whether such revisions might push the envelope on political correctness even further. Counter-jihad activist Pamela Gellar reveals the reality of ideological bankruptcy that has been elevated to the level of military policy. “Mass beheadings, gendercide, gassing of girls' schools, mass slaughter of non-believers and less than devout Muslims, attacks on US soldiers, acid attacks on women, brutal burka enforcement…must not be criticized,” she writes.

Yet it was the grief-stricken father of a Marine slain during one of the insider attacks whose words should haunt everyone associated with this PC-inspired debacle. “At the end of the day, what happened is my son trained somebody to murder him,” Greg Buckley Sr. said at the funeral of his son, Lance Cpl. Gregory T. Buckley – aged 21. And a new army handbook contends that at least part of such carnage is the fault of American soldiers' cultural insensitivity. Pathetic.

The Patriot Post is steadfast in our mission to extend Liberty to the next generation by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities, supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. We are not sustained by any political, special interest or parent organization, and we do not accept advertising to ensure our advocacy is not restrained by commercial influence. Our mission and operation budget is made possible by the voluntary financial support of Patriots like you. Please support The Patriot Fund today!

Who We Are

We advocate individual liberty, the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and the promotion of free enterpise, national defense, and traditional American values. Read More

What We Offer

On the Web

We offer solid conservative perspective on the issues of the day, including analysis, opinion columns, historic documents, humor, cartoons and more.

Via Email

Choose between our full-length Digest or our quick-hitting Snapshot to keep up with news important to Liberty. We also offer Humor on Monday and Alexander's column on Wednesday.